NAB 2024 Insights and Observations

NAB 2024 Insights and Observations

This IDC Perspective details NAB 2024 insights and observations. At NAB 2024, The International Trade Association for Broadcast and Media (IABM) presented an industry update. The key highlights included a focus on profitability, consolidation, and efficiency. To date, 2024 has been a difficult year as media companies continued their financial struggle with streaming business models, doubling down on the cost reduction initiatives (including significant staff cuts) they started implementing last year to reduce pressure on margins. Prioritizing solutions that can help them in the long term to become more cost efficient and profitable is paramount.Hence, media customers are at an inflexion point driven by key technology and market trends, new cloud-based products and services offerings, and general discussions about the overall health of the M&E industry. The focus of this document is on the ability of a technology vendor to deliver an end-to-end solution with a TCO model that achieves the media company's financial and profitability objectives within a specified time frame. This document covers a short list of innovative and advanced technology vendors that understand the challenges media companies must overcome to achieve success as they transition to cloud and advanced GenAI/AI initiatives and focus on positive business outcomes. While 2024 confidence levels are lower for the overall industry, there is optimism about new opportunities yet to be developed and/or discovered."We are at an inflection point where media companies need to think differently," stated Alex Holtz, research director, Worldwide Media and Entertainment Digital Strategies at IDC. "Media companies need to be challenged by hiring creative consultants working with innovative technology vendors that can create a strategic plan focused on driving positive financial results while delivering a high-quality, reliable, and secure streaming service to offset losses to their traditional linear business. If the theme of NAB 2024 is profitability, consolidation, and efficiency, then its paramount that media companies focus on reducing operating expense, work with a limited set of vendors and media partners, entertain outsourcing when it makes sense, and implement advanced data analytics and GenAI/AI within workflow processes to drive efficiencies and positive financial results. Today's competitive landscape requires innovative thought leadership, fast-paced implementations, agility as facts change, and shared risk to drive toward a business model with long-term viability."

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